Should We Be Frightened? I think so.

If you feel the government has forgotten what the people of Canada value and believe in, here is your proof. Consider all that will be taken away by this new, strange form of government we currently enjoy. Bill C-38 is a 420 page document affecting 70 pieces of legislation. Here is a letter with good list of it’s contents. Thank you to Eric Lilius for passing this along.

Ryan Leef
Member of Parliament, Yukon
Open Letter #14
June, 2012

Dear Ryan,

Conservative MP David Wilkes recently told his constituents that he had serious concerns about the omnibus budget bill C-38. He said that backbenchers weren’t allowed to look at this 420-page document until it was released to the public. How can any Member of Parliament vote on something this large and important without proper review?

I’d like to bring to your attention a list of worrying Bill C-38 clauses for your perusal.

– National Round Table of the Environment and the Economy is shut down. It was an important round table of industry leaders, environmentalists, First Nations, labour and policy-makers. Their research and advice are being dispensed with because the prime minister is next to God and knows all there is to be known.

– Charities may no longer spend more than 10 per cent of their budgets on political advocacy. Since the promotion of environmental stewardship is now considered a political activity, this provision will harm environmental groups. (It is important to note that environmental stewardship has only become politicized under the current Conservative government. Both the Progressive Conservative and Liberal Governments, at the very least, pretended to endorse good stewardship.)

– Elections Canada has had its investigative effectiveness compromised by a cut by $7.5 million. That is just slightly less than the $8 million allocated to harass environmental groups. (See below.)

– $8 million in public money has been allotted to investigate environmental charities and organizations. (Now public money will be used by the Conservative Party in its campaign to persecute environmentalists while the Kluane Lake Research Station is scraping by on $80,000 of its $100,000 former budget and must crawl on its hands and knees to beg for adequate funding in the future.)

– The new Fisheries Act will no longer protect fish habitat but will instead focus on the protection of economically viable fisheries.

– Amendments in Section 142 of Bill C-38 propose that industries are no longer required to notify the Department of Fisheries and Oceans of their projects nor are they held liable for habitat harm, thus exempting them from responsibility.

– Amendments to the Fisheries Act in Section 35 give industry, developers and provinces the right to authorize adverse harm to waters and wetlands.

– The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act has been repealed and will be replaced by the ineffectual Environmental Effects Act that favours the desires of industry over the health of the land, air and water.

– The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has been gutted, allowing the federal government to cherry pick which projects will require assessment. Substitution rules allow the federal government to offload assessments onto provinces and territories. (Given the Yukon government’s cavalier attitude towards the environment, this is not reassuring.)

– The Canadian Environmental Protection Act has increased time limits on waste disposal and includes an open-ended clause covering protection for species at risk. This Act has been made toothless.

– Changes to the Food and Drugs Act, under the guise of “Marketing Authorizations” and “Incorporation by Reference,” will allow the ministers to fast-track approvals to new foods and drugs. This leaves Canadians vulnerable to harm caused by hasty and incomplete investigation.

– Amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act will wipe out a backlog of 280,000 applications under the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Applications made before 2008 will be deleted and the application fee refunded. Xenophobes everywhere are cheering.

– Amendments to borrowing limits for the Territories will devolve what used to be legislative power back to the federal government. How different is this from the old practice of requiring federal approval on borrowing for First Nations groups which seriously crippled their efforts towards self-government?

– The CBC has had its budget cut by 10 per cent. This is on top of previous cuts that have already crippled this national treasure.

Debate on Bill C-38 has been limited. Committee work has been rushed and, in at least one case, sabotaged. Many of the amendments have not been given the thoughtful, research-based work they require in order to make good policy. The bill is an assault on the environment and workers’ rights with the intention of promoting industry at the expense of Canadians. “Long-term prosperity,” as applied to this bill, is an oxymoron.

In a letter to your constituents, you said: “The environment, particularly as it impacts the North, is an extremely important issue. My commitment is to continue to work towards a sustainable future for Yukon, and ensure that voice is heard in Ottawa.”

David Wilkes said that that if 12 other Conservative MPs stood with him and voted against the omnibus budget bill, it would be defeated. Ryan, it is time to walk the walk. Will you please vote against the omnibus budget bill?

May your time in Ottawa be constructive and may you walk on the high road.

Respectfully yours,

Linda Leon

Should we be frightened? I think so. This harkens to a different kind of governance in Canada and the brutality of it is very unsettling. Obviously majority governments are not always the best option.

3 thoughts on “Should We Be Frightened? I think so.”

I wrote to my MP today about the “Harper Government’s” Canadian Book Fund cut to the Literary Press Group, the distribution arm for 47 independent Canadian publishers. After August 31, there will be no sales force promoting and marketing the hundreds of books by these small but vital publishers. Why does this matter? Small, independent presses do not have budgets to hire a distribution and marketing force. Small presses are where authors like Margaret Atwood got their start. LPG served that distribution and marketing role brilliantly and brought us books from award-winning authors such as Johanna Skibsrud, Christian Bök, Cordelia Strube and Jeff Latosik.

The funding cut to LPG is only one of the many precursors to the further cuts buried in Bill C-38 that should be known as the Slow and Insidious Death of Who We Were. This is not my Canada. This vision is narrow and highly conservative; they intend to silence anyone who questions “good old-fashioned Canadian values” on the Harper agenda.

Frightened? Oh yes. Very much so. And with a majority in place, this will only get worse.

It’s outragus , how can any Govt. consider this without discussion, are we becoming an anarchy?
We need to get a petition going the likes of the ones they start in the US when the Govt. tries to slip something under the table.( like the copyright law ) Harper needs to get a message that transparency is the order of the day.